A challenge for a developer of a Web site is predicting what users will want to do on the Web site and whether all users will understand the names of the links provided on the Web site. Since some users prefer to navigate a Web site by typing what they are looking for, many Web sites provide a search engine to allow users to find what they are looking for using their own terminology. Allowing users to find what they are looking for quickly and easily often translates into increased sales and/or reduced support costs.
The development of natural language search algorithms has made use of natural language searching of Web sites more feasible and popular. A natural language search engine receives full sentences (which may be in English or another language) as typed or otherwise entered by users, and searches a set of data based on both the words in the sentence and the construction of the sentence. Natural language search engines are often used to retrieve answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) by searching a FAQ database including a number of questions and answers.
Keyword search engines are also provided by many Web sites. A keyword search engine searches an entire Web site for pages and other resources related to user-entered keywords.
When both a natural-language FAQ search feature and a keyword search feature are provided by a Web site, the user may become confused as to which search engine to use. Further, the placement and naming of the two search features can become problematic for a developer of the Web site.
Further, search results are generally presented in a linear list with multiple types of results being intermixed. Some of the search results may have little bearing on the user's intended search. For example, a user searching on “DSL” may be presented search results related to sales of DSL, technical aspects of DSL, technical support for DSL and other DSL-related results, all mixed together without preference given to the user's area of focus. Recent research has pointed to the use of categorization of search results as a method to allow users to more quickly and easily find the results they are looking for.